This invention relates to hamburger fixing apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a hamburger fixing apparatus which has the ability to prepare different types of hamburgers and sandwiches using a reduced number of elements, thereby increasing productivity.
Recently, in addition to conventional hamburgers having: a patty, ketchup and other items placed between a top portion (a crown) and a bottom portion (a heel) of a bun, a variety of other types of hamburgers and sandwiches have been available at hamburger shops. These, include, for example, teriyaki burgers (adding teriyaki sauce to conventional hamburger patties), bacon and lettuce burgers (adding bacon and lettuce to conventional hamburgers), cheeseburgers, and various types of fry sandwiches (such as fish fry sandwiches, croquette sandwiches and fried chicken sandwiches). The words "a hamburger or hamburgers" and "a sandwich or sandwiches" hereinafter imply any one or all of the above interchangeably unless otherwise specified.
As the number of consumers increase and the kinds and types of hamburgers and sandwiches become more diversified, a demand has arisen for heightened productivity of hamburgers and sandwiches.
Conventional kitchen facilities include a freezer for patties, a broiler for broiling or grilling patties, a toaster for buns, a frier for croquettes or other fried foods and a table for adding lettuce, cheese, pickles, sauce, and other seasonings on hamburger buns or patties. Each section independently processes the hamburgers. All of the processes are manually performed. The first problem is that the productivity of the conventional kitchen facilities has been improved upon many times and have now reached an ultimate limit.
In order to solve the problem mentioned above, automatic hamburger fixing apparatus have been developed. For example, the apparatus disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 1-91739 may be employed.
The above automatic fixing apparatus is, however, designed to fix only limited kinds of sandwiches and hamburgers. In order to prepare all of the kinds of sandwiches and hamburgers listed above, an apparatus must have feeding and adding mechanisms for each and every type of food material necessary for producing the hamburgers or sandwiches. This requires a large space in which to install the apparatus. In addition, every time a new type of sandwich or hamburger is added, another mechanism for feeding the new food material has to be incorporated in the existing apparatus. Additionally, the control system of the apparatus must be modified accordingly. It is impossible to install such an apparatus in a conventional, relatively small kitchen, and it is difficult to install additional mechanisms and modify the control system for feeding the new food material. This is the second problem.